kiwijinxter

*** EDIT: 20 June 2023 *** Revised score from 10 to 6 now that I finished the game. Having played through the entire game, I find that it's the weakest of the 3 in the Bayonetta series. The Switch control struggles with the large monsters at times, and the exploration gets a bit confusing at times, and overall the game does get tired because it loses the fluidity of ongoing combat from the first 2 games. Overall it's still Bayonetta, but it's no match for #1 and #2, with #2 being my favourite. *** Earlier review below *** It's full-on Bayonetta action, but much BIGGER and BADDER, a masterpiece! Well, it took FOREVER for Nintendo and Platinum to release Bayonetta 3 and I'm only too glad it's finally here. I absolutely love the Bayonetta series so I replayed Bayonetta 1 and 2 back to back in readiness for this. Was Bayonetta 3 worth the wait? You bet! While I'm relatively early in the game, I can assure Bayonetta fans that Bayonetta 3 introduces new mechanics like the monster-controlling Demon Slave move very early on, so there's no time to feel as if this is just a same old Bayonetta game. When I first activated Demon Slave, it brought back the same feeling as when Mario first took over the T-Rex in Super Mario Odyssey. There's a certain "weight" to the monsters you control in Demon Slave, and it feels good. Because of the much larger scale of monsters you control, some fights are really between giants - a bit like King Kong vs Godzilla. This makes Bayonetta 3 the most epic in terms of scale of some battles. If you're new to Bayonetta, you're in for a treat. Bayonetta is an action game. An over-the-top action game. The signature of Bayonetta games is the crazy, over the top, non-stop bombastic action sequences and combos you can do. In this 3rd outing all the crazy over the top action moves remain, and certain levels have some exploration to be done, but some other things are different. For example, you upgrade your abilities in a slightly more "RPG" way and the enemies seem more agile and fluid than their rather rocky and hard predecessors. In some way, it makes them just slightly more challenging than the early baddies from the early games. But with the ability to change difficulties anytime, you can change it to whatever suits you best. Of course, the original voice of Bayonetta has changed hands from Hellena Taylor to Jennifer Hale. I prefer Hellena's voice due to stronger inflexions but I think I'll get used to Jennifer's eventually. As for the story (no spoilers here), right at the very beginning of the story, I thought, no way they're doing this to Bayonetta but I'll leave you to discover the story! All in all, I can say it's certainly worth the wait for the Umbran Witch's return. Bayonetta is just brilliant as ever. Love it.

"Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe" on the Nintendo Switch feels like fresh Kirby game. New life is breathed into the game with Merry Magoland, a whole bunch of really fun mini-games (mix of old and new) that you can play to get stickers which can be used to get new Kirby masks which you can wear while playing the game. Believe it or not, this is such a simple concept, yet so addictive and gives new life to completing levels and Merry Magoland challenges. For very young kids, you can even enlist the help of Magolor along the game, who actually buffs you further and prevents you from falling off the screen, and providing extra food after each level. And there are two new powers to have fun with - I especially like the Sand power - very versatile. Then of course there are additional new levels, but I won't give any spoilers. Well done, HAL Laboratories and Nintendo. Love this game, even for a second time. It feels new again.

I have been a fan of Monkey Island since the first game, and I loved all of them including the non-Ron Gilbert ones. Monkey Island was the game that got me into point and click adventures, but very few other adventure games match the quality and humour of Monkey Island. I was initially a bit hesitant about the odd choice of art style, but I was so distracted by the the sharp, witty and excellent writing that the art style ended up not bothering me. I was so sure of this game I pre-ordered it on Steam before release, and I'm glad I did. A masterpiece...

All companies, repeat after us: Go Woke, go broke! Go Woke, go broke! Go Woke, go broke! Keep your ideological-possession to yourselves. If you continue cramming your sexual politics onto us, we will gladly watch you go broke.

I have played every iteration of the Monster Hunter series since MH3 Ultimate on the Nintendo DS then 3DS (though I've not played MH World). MH Rise maintains the fun of monster hunting (it's most fun when hunting with other players) but adds two key things: 1. Quality of life improvements e.g. it's quicker to collect materials along the way (it used to be painfully slow), the Palamute speeds up travel, hold A to carve a fallen monster multiple times, etc. 2. Fun new mechanics such as the wirebug which turns you into a bit of a mini Tarzan, and of course, the monster or wyvern riding capability, letting you control some monsters If you're new to Monster Hunter, my advice is to take it easy. Take your own sweet time at the beginning with the single player "campaign" which walks you through different quests which introduces you key aspects of the game. There is a whole lot to learn, however, you don't need to learn everything in order to enjoy the game. Just learn the basics, and I would say the key basic thing to learn is weapon handling - just pick ONE weapon (easier ones to pick up include sword and shield, dual sword, long sword - note easy to pick up doesn't mean easy to master!), and learn how to use it. (The next important thing is to learn how different monsters "behave" during hunts - it's the difference between success and failure in a hunt!) Your weapon is the main thing (other than armour next) that will carry you through your initial hunts. In fact, once you are familiar with the weapon system, you can immediately jump on multiplayer as well just to get a feel of hunting with other players. Monster Hunter is best played with others around the world - that's the fun of it! If you're a veteran of Monster Hunter, well, you don't need any advice. All that you knew is still there, but you get to enjoy the quality of life stuff that makes Monster Hunter Rise much more enjoyable since some of the terribly boring and painfully mundane mechanics have been taken out of the mix, letting you jump on multiplayer hunts immediately. That's not all though - there are new mechanics for you to learn too - the new Tarzan moves with the fun wirebugs, new Switch skills, etc. Hunting is still soooo fun! If you've played Monster Hunter World before this, you may find the mechanics in Rise just a slightly more "complicated" at times, but it's a perfect jumping on point because you're already familiar with hunts and weapons. As a result, I must say that Monster Hunter Rise is THE best in the Monster Hunter series and is a great time for new Monster Hunter players to join in the hunt, while returning or veteran hunters can continue enjoying the game with lots of new stuff - and helping new Monster Hunter players enjoy the journey. Jump in and enjoy the thrill of the hunt! Absolute 10/10!

Before I started this game, Monster Hunter was the game that kept me playing in excess of 200 hours per game. I couldn't imagine any other game which could match the MH series. Enter Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I have clocked nearly the 300 hour mark (including 4 playthroughs - I won't put spoilers here but you'll find out - of the main game and a playthrough of the DLC) and all this is because of the combination of riveting stories and excellent gameplay. The Fire Emblem series is based on its turn-based, tactical and addictive gameplay. The reason we kept coming back for more is the outcomes of relationships between members, the multiple divergent paths you can take, and the diverse number of characters you can battle with, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The difficulty level is completely up to you. You can play super-hard and have perma-death on your characters, or you can play on casual and have any dead characters mercifully revived in the next mission. The story is so well written, and the in-game animation during the "exploration" days in the monastery is utterly beautiful. There are so many things to do during exploration too, so it's not just a tactical turned-base game. This is hands-down the most unique, most beautiful game (characters especially) and character-driven Fire Emblem of all Fire Emblems. I cannot recommend enough of this game. It really caught me unaware how the game never grows old despite multiple playthroughs, because it feels different in each playthrough. I highly recommend this - well worth the money paid for both the main game and the DLC.

I read some reviews and thought I might like this game, but unfortunately, it's like Xenoblade Chronicles gameplay with worse graphics. It's not the kind of RPG I like. What I absolutely hated about this game is the difficulty in grinding to level up - it's just too onerous. Also the way you upgrade your weapons / armour is just nonsensically complicated for no reason. Not recommended at all. There are many other better RPGs out there e.g. Octopath Traveler.

The game is cute and is quite endearing. The building mining and building are both quite relaxing activities. The battling is a little onerous with rather imprecise aiming with melee weapons. The worst part is the inability to run. However, my main problem is that after I completed the 1st world and boss, the 2nd world feels a bit of a rehash as it forces you to restart from scratch, artificially making some even basic materials harder to get so suddenly it went from a relatively fun experience from the 1st world to a rather grindy and not-so-fun experience in the 2nd world. Good if you don't mind retreading the game elements, but I prefer a straightforward "progress" through a game.

This is the battle system Xenoblade Chronicles should've adopted! When I first picked up Xenoblade Chronicles, I expected the battle system to be like that of Ys VIII. It wasn't, but I still finished that game. However, my itch for a real-time action battle system remained... until I discovered Ys VIII. I had no idea what kind of game it was until I stumbled upon some reviews... after reading them, I decided to buy it... and I've no regrets - this game managed scratched that itch that left the battles wanting in Xenoblade Chronicles. Ys VIII is an action RPG, and it circumvents everything that I didn't like about Xenoblade. IN Ys VIII, I am fully in control of the battle, I use special moves when I want, I use normal moves when I want, I face the monster from the back / side / front, whenever I want. The upgrades to the weapons are straightforward, just keep going up, so I don't get flummoxed by complex systems. Almost all the time, I knew exactly where to go for my next quests / missions. The story is relatively straightforward, almost without any plot twists, so really, it's the entire battle system that shines through in this game. As you level up you gain new special abilities which you can assign to one of 4 buttons to execute (there are lots of abilities to choose from as you progress). In Xenoblade Chronicles, sometimes you don't really feel "in control" of the battles because of the way it's implemented. With Ys VIII on the other hand, you're completely in control every single second of the battle, which means you feel more engaged during battles. You also get to choose to play a number of characters each with different feel. You get the melee type character (the main character, Adol is one) which is great if you like it up close and personal. Then you get the "fencer" type which is a very agile and quick character but very good at "breaks". You get the tank which basically, well, the tank with huge HP and power hits but just slower than others. You get the AoE (area of effect) type which whacks everything around you, you get the gunner who actually has some super powerful moves, but can also jab when close up... this means you have a great variety of options to play. Another great design I like about this game is that, unlike Pokemon, those characters you are not using in your party of 3 at any time will also passively level up so you don't have to grind unnecessarily. The ones not in your party doesn't level up as quickly as the 3 in your party, but it's still helpful that they do level up almost as quickly. This further gives you the flexibility to interchange characters and really have fun at the action part of this RPG. That said, you could grind if you wish to grind as everytime you enter an area again, the monster respawn. Good for parts collection to upgrade weapons and armor too. It's a relatively long game, it took me about 60 hours to complete (I almost completed every single side quest), however, what I found was that often, when it started feeling repetitive, they introduce a new move, or new area, or new something, and it does help keep it fresh throughout. Admittedly, I changed from "Normal" to "Easy" about 3/4 way through because I wanted to get to the ending (note there's a "good", "normal" and "bad" ending depending on the reputation points you earn). Reputation points are earned as you complete side quests for characters, give gifts, etc. If you're a fan of action RPGs, and you like to be in total control of your action / battles, then this is exactly the game for you. The story is a bit light, but hey, I played this for the action, I sure got them!

I'm always looking for good couch multiplayer games - after all that's what the Nintendo Switch is really good at! So I bought this game on a punt as I love the idea of a multiplayer-manned spaceship! And boy I didn't regret it. I got my 3 children to play with me (2 of them teens), and we really enjoyed it! The graphics were soft-psychedelic, the gameplay was fun with each of us doing different functions that we were good at (man shields, 4 cannons, thruster, mega gun, etc.). The weapon upgrades were fun to experiment with. The levels were just right for relatively short bursts of playing, meaning, we play it more often! Such a cool concept. Love it.

I'm glad I only got into Diablo 3 after Reaper of Souls, so I didn't experience the horrible angst we had earlier. I also found that in multiplayer there are many very friendly uber players who would be more than willing to help you level up during Seasons. The only problem I have is that I have so much loot and no space to store them, but that's just a minor issue. Diablo 3, is just a really fun ARPG that satisfied my itch for a quick and fun play each session. And yes, the looting system makes it addictive. Love it.

Gotta HATCH 'em all! As a die-hard Monster Hunter (MH) player who has spent 100s of hours (each!) in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and Monster Hunter: Generations, I was already heavily invested in the MH world and all its monsters, so I bought Monster Hunter Stories on the first day it was released without second thought. And I've never regretted it. Traditional MH veterans should find many subject matters familiar (monsters, weapons, armour). In fact, my affinity to the monsters is what made me buy this game. The difference is you're not a Hunter in Monster Hunter Stories (MHS), you're a rider! That means that instead of slaying monsters, you breed and befriend them so they can be your allies! Together with your monster party, you go hunting other monsters. It's truly refreshing, and of course, much less tense compared to traditional MH gameplay. While MHS offers a totally different gameplay and mechanics from the usual highly addictive cycle of working with 3 online friends to strategise, prepare and kill desired monsters to obtain parts to create better weapons and armour, Monster Hunter Stories has it's own addictive nature and it comes in the form of "gotta hatch 'em all" and forming the best monster party you can command! What really surprised me was how equally addictive Monster Hunter Stories (MHS) is, in a whole different way. Let me explain. Firstly, there's the "gotta hatch 'em all" aspect to it. You go around randomly-generated monster dens stealing their eggs and hope to hatch all sorts of monsters with unique gene pools - yes, even the same species of monster can have multiple combinations of genes (active skills, passive skills). "Gotta hatch 'em all" gives a familiar ring to another similar game, Pokemon (gotta catch 'em all). If you've played Pokemon, you immediately understand why MHS can be so addictive - you just want to get that next egg which could reveal a Red Khezu, or Pink Rathian, or Shrouded Nerscylla with good genes. Secondly, there's the customisation aspect to the game. Even with the monster genes described above, you are (several hours into the game) able to do genes transfusion so some monsters can adopt certain genes from other species! Talk about a recipe for those with Obssessive Compulsive Disorders! Of course, you've got your usual upgrade of weapons and armour, but it's mechanics is a lot simpler in that you don't have to grind a particular monster 20 times to get the super rare drops or body parts. Because the monster fights are much shorter than traditional MH fare, it's not anywhere as onerous. That said, it's no easy task to simply upgrade your weapons or armour, as they often require specific amounts of specific materials. In that respect, there is some similarity to traditional Monster Hunter gameplay. Other similarities to traditional MH games include simplified versions of combining items (e.g. into Potions, Paintball, etc.), villages to visit which includes your house, etc. Thirdly, the combat, while simplified, isn't a cakewalk. In Pokemon, you could almost sail through every battle without really "dying" because a lot of the mechanics are predictable. MHS on the other hand - while it has the same rock-paper-scissors mechanic to winning battles - there is a certain element of unpredictability because some craftier monsters don't necessary follow a pattern, so you can't simply predict (and easily win) battles. For example, Speed trumps Power, but the monster could use Power first, then decides to switch to Tactics instead, so you can't blindly spam a single move. Combat also gives a sense of camaraderie with your monster where you build up kinship as you successfully win a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors (Power-Speed-Tactics). Once built up, you can jump on your monster and unleash a more powerful attack. Traditional MH veterans will be familiar also with the fact that many monsters have specialty elements that work better (or worse) against monsters with other elements. I've played a couple of Pokemon games in the past including HeartGold/SoulSilver, X/Y etc. but if you asked me to compare Monster Hunter Stories with Pokemon games, I'd pick MHS anytime as Pokemon tends to bore me, but MHS feels much more organic and substantial - I feel more of an affinity to my monsters in MHS than my pokemons in Pokemon. Whether you're a MH veteran or you've never played MH before, I highly recommend Monster Hunter Stories, not least because it's so charming, but for a MH veteran, you'll be immediately familiar with a lot of things, yet be pleasantly surprised by the entirely new gameplay mechanics; for a non traditional MH player, this is a substantially new world to explore without much of the grind and difficulty you hear about traditional MH games. Super, highly recommended!

For someone who has completed the first Project X Zone, I've found that Project X Zone 2 is not as original nor as fun as the first one was. This is primarily due to one thing: Projext X Zone 2's difficulty spike is terribly uneven (e.g. Chapter 11) and so while PXZ1 was a bit draggy, there was no major spikes, so I could stomach casual plays. I could take the PXZ1 drag compared to the PXZ2's difficulty spike which was far more frustrating. It's a pity because in essence it's much like PXZ1 in gameplay - fund, likeable characters all mashed into 1 game with over the top fight animations. I'm disappointed with PXZ2 though.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

OK the premise looked fantastic. Who wouldn't want to be "in" the movies with a game like this. Unfortunately, this game doesn't have the story the movies tell, so you're left with the gameplay. Unfortunately, the gameplay is weak and does get boring fast. After a couple of tutorials - many which are very boring - you very quickly realise the weakness of this game. While I find the FPS bits OK, the vehicle handling is terrible - scooters, X-wings, etc. handle in a very imprecise way, leaving very much to be desired. I played it for over an hour and already found myself quite bored. I think it's tried to be everything to everyone and end up being not very good at everything. Overall, I think there's not enough "weight" to either the story or the gameplay. It's OK and relatively fun in small doses, but didn't hold my attention long, and made me long for more "weighty" FPS such as Far Cry 3 or 4. And of course, single player is probably not the best reason to buy this game anyway.

I won't compare this to Dragon Age 2 because that pales into comparison with Dragon Age: inquisition. That said, DA:I is better than Dragon Age: Origins in more ways than one. For one thing the characters in DA:I is even more interesting than that of DA:O, and the stories / banter / cutscenes are all great and makes me care for the characters. More importantly, the gameplay is dynamic. I personally much prefer a real-time battle than the tactical (paused) battles and it certainly does make the fights exciting (and crazy frantic at times i.e. Descent DLC) and fun. DA:I has this in spades, and battles always feel fun and fresh. Especially when going for the Elder Dragons when you've levelled up enough! There's a good choice of companion characters you can choose, and there are many to choose from, of different specialisations. I like the idea that ALL characters level up concurrently, so you can choose to swap characters ANY time in the game - therefore, allowing you to try different characters and their powers WITHOUT having to restart in order to play other characters. Overall this game is well built to allow you to play through once THOROUGHLY (easily 100+ hours of content), and with different characters as and when you wish. And closing those Fade rifts and getting rid of demons never gets tired. If I have to gripe at something, then perhaps sometimes the control scheme is a bit wonky. For example, when trying to close Fade Rifts, I sometimes can't see my cursor clearly, plus the chaos of battle doesn't really help. But that's such a minor gripe. This is a near perfect RPG experience, and to me, even better than Skyrim, which I've also spent 100+ hours on. I can't wait for Dragon Age 4 - if they can improve on it further!

OK as someone who played most of MH3U (never finished completely as I hated the underwater battles) and then put 200+ hours into MH4U (yeah finished the key quests, and it was fun!), I must say MHG is a step up in fun! For people who have played any of the previous few MH games, MHG will immediately feel familiar given the 100s of hours of training the hands to hunt monsters on the 3DS! So I didn't find issue in the seemingly slow starting couple of hours (and this is important for the benefit of newer players) - because I knew what was coming was going to be fun. And fun it is! I'm about 40 hours into it, and all the fun elements from MH4U are there - but it's the additional stuff that makes MHG the superior one, and I'll name a few: + Hold A button to keep gathering (in the previous installments, you have to keep tapping A, getting RSI) + Hunter Arts is a fun additional moves that builds up a gauge over time to execute a strong move + Hunter Styles mean no matter what weapon you have, you can jump over monsters! (no longer need to envy those fun jumping Insect Glaive hunters!) + Play as a Palico - yeah the cat! As a cat, you have 9 lives instead of 3, you have unlimited stamina, etc... so fun...! If you've played any MH in the past, you'll just slip comfortably back into it. If you're new to MH, this is as good a time to join in the fun (plow through the first couple of hours, and the world will open up!). And of course, the best aspect to this game is being able to hunt some of those monsters with 3 other hunters! Love it and highly recommended!

Yes, this is the BEST Kirby game to date so far - this surpasses any Wii or Wii U Kirby games ever released! Thing about Kirby games is, you actually have fun and enjoy playing the game. It's not about the challenge (otherwise, you'd be playing Monster Hunter or Fire Emblem Fates Conquest on Lunatic Classic mode right?), but it's about the JOY of playing a Kirby game. Even though I play games like Monster Hunter, I ALWAYS preorder Kirby games simply because it's soooooo **** and makes me feel good playing it - it's relaxing, it's fun, it's cute. It's a truly feel-good game with cute Kirby and solid mechanics in gameplay that is truly enjoyable. The usual copy abilities of Kirby is there, plus there are a few new powers. However, the new thing this time round is that Kirby dons the mech-suit, and unlike Kirby Triple Deluxe (which was pretty good, but the mega suction felt a little gimmicky and "forced"), the mech-suit actually feels like an integral part of the game, heck, you even have the COPY ability in mech mode, which makes it super super cool and fun. There's a lot of variety in the game, and it feels fresh from one level to another. On top of that you could use the new Kirby amiibos (there are 4) to add some fun copy abilities - I've only got the Kirby amiibo which transforms Kirby into a UFO Kirby. So why do I buy this game even though it's not a very long game? Because it's a PERFECT game, with PERFECT mechanics and the PERFECT level of fun and cuteness and joy. It's worth every penny I spent on it. Don't hesitate - buy it, and enjoy it immediately - for both kids AND adults!

OK if you're used to mobile games like Clash of Clans which is of course, fun, purposeful and highly involving, then Miitomo will be on the other end - boring, random and nothing much to do. Otherwise it's an OK start for Nintendo's first go at mobile "gaming" if you could even call it that. I haven't written this off, but Nintendo will need to make get players more involved with more content and purpose before I feel satisfied with Miitomo. OK first effort.

I've played Terraria for the first time ever on the 3DS and I'm hooked. I've played Minecraft before but was bored with content, whereas with Terraria, I felt I want to keep digging/fighting to discover the next best thing - be it weapons or monsters. Terraria feels more "purposeful" to me in that you build yourself up for harsher environments and bigger monsters. And the bonus with the 3DS version? I can play anytime anywhere! The world may be slightly smaller than the PC, but I happily trade that with the ability to play anytime anywhere. Well worth it on 3DS.

Everyone knows Minecraft is a good game on ANY platform - simply because the game is superb! The best thing about any Minecraft game is the multiplayer aspect where multiple kids/adults can together build stuff. However, the Wii U version has one MAJOR flaw: it lacks controller options. Yes, I've got a Wii U Gamepad, a Wii U Pro Controller and 4 WiiMote and Nunchuks (2 being legacy Wii ones). The stupid decision to only support the Gamepad and Pro Controller limits our multiplayer to TWO players. That ****. And no, I wouldn't buy another 2 Wii U Pro Controllers just for ONE game, since I've already bought 2x PC versions, 1x mobile version of the game! What was Mojang thinking? Anyway, very disappointed.

We've played with Disney Infinity 1.0 and 2.0. We've played with Skylanders Swap Force. We've considered Lego Dimensions. Based on my experience with Skylanders Swap Force, I felt that it beat Disney Infinity 2.0 hands down. Disney Infinity's missions were boring while Skylanders Swap Force was really fun. So we sold off all Disney Infinity and stuck with Skylanders. We avoided Skylanders Trap Team after all the poor reviews, but decided to jump into Skylanders Superchargers. Even with Superchargers, I still think it's better than Disney Infinity 3.0 and Lego Dimensions, due to the fun factor. So why just 7 stars? Simple, Skylanders Superchargers' driving / flying / sailing controls ****. The racing mode controls is OK and works as planned. However, in the battle driving mode, it is downright confusing and is the WORST controls I've ever seen in ANY driving game. Seriously, the designer who designed the driving / flying / sailing controls should have been promptly fired. This is the problem: your left and right facing navigation works one way when your vehicle is facing one half of the directions, but the navigation SWAPS automatically (so turning left becomes turning right, and turning right becomes turning left!) when facing the other half of the directions! What kind of a STUPID navigation scheme is that? Honestly, this ONE aspect alone, I've taken out 3 stars, because a good portion of the game is about navigating with vehicles! OK now that the single worst aspect of Skylanders Superchargers is out of the way, I'll cover all the good stuff. I believe Skylanders is still the most FUN toys to life game that’s suitable for a wide age range, so if you’re a parent and want to play with your kids, the level is just right for the kids, but yet fun enough for the adults. The characters are endearing and even “evil” Kaos is such an adorable villain! The characters are all appealing and each Skylander have their own personality. Their respective powers are different enough to warrant purchasing – though you probably don’t want to get ALL characters as some power variations do seem to be similar. And of course, the bonus is, all your old Skylanders characters will work with this game, so a PLUS for compatibility and well done to Activision for not leaving old characters obsolete. Gameplay-wise, the on-foot platforming elements are fun and pretty straightforward, with some crazy-looking villains. You move from chapter to chapter, expunging villains, collect coins and gear bits to upgrade your character’s powers and/or your vehicles. The level variations are good – one moment you’re on 3D platforming, another moment you’re on 2D side scrolling platforming, yet another moment, you’re in your vehicle racing / fighting away. As I said before, the racing elements with vehicles are fine, and is reminiscent of Mario Kart 8 (although not anywhere near as polished). Just get the “arena vehicle battles” out of the way quickly due to the frustrating controls. There’s enough variety in all the levels to encourage you to play through the whole game. I never felt bored in almost all the levels – except one or two optional flying ones where you have to destroy like 50 objects which seem to drag on forever. Of course, if you feel everything is too easy, you can crank up the difficulty to the max, but personally, I don’t play Skylanders for its difficulty. The storyline is good fun, again, doesn’t take itself seriously, and so makes you feel more relaxed during gameplay. It’s the usual “muahahaha” evil dudes trying to take control of Skylands and the Skylanders are there to turn their “muahahaha” to a “boo hoo”. It’s really cute really, and subject materials are all suited for families of all ages. As an adult, Skylanders Superchargers provides me with a good break from more serious and intense games such as Xenoblade Chronicles, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and Sniper Elite 3! Despite the pathetic navigation with vehicles, I’d still recommend Skylanders over Disney Infinity and Lego Dimensions if you desire a relatively relaxed game time with your family, or you want a break from more intense PC games! Recommended.

I really wanted to love this game, in fact I went all out and got ALL 2.0 expansion sets plus a total of about 40 1.0 and 2.0 figurines on the promise of the title, but unfortunately it failed to deliver. The quests were not exciting to keep me going, game mechanics wasn't fun, the controls were rather awkward (the driving is WORSE than that of Watch Dogs!), the Toy Box is far too difficult to play with (for a good example of a well implemented make-your-own game, see Super Mario Maker), poor compatibility of characters between 1.0 and 2.0. The WORST thing I hated about this is when the character dies, you have to wait a few minutes to respawn or replace with a new character. My kids didn't enjoy it, in fact they went back to Skylanders Swap Force which was much more fun. Alas in the end, with a heavy heart, I sold everything from my 1.0 and 2.0 collection and am now picking up on Skylanders Superchargers, and will go on from there.

Like many gamers, I really wanted to like this game. The problem I found with Watch Dogs is that, I wasn't enjoying the game. I played a couple of hours of it, I tried to push through it in the hopes that it gets better. It doesn't. Watch Dogs has a lot of mechanics by which gamers could have enjoyed: driving, stealth, hacking, story. Unfortunately all of the mechanics are mediocre at best. The driving **** so bad and it feels so out of control (unfortunately you DO need to drive for many missions) I had to play Mario Kart 8 to feel good about driving on the Wii U again. The hacking is quite fun in-mission where you can hack to get explosions, block roads, change traffic lighting, etc. but the hacking in systems is really boring, it's like one of those pipe puzzles of the past. Stealth is terrible. And this is the most surprising thing about this. Ubisoft has implemented fantastic stealth with Splinter Cell. Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Splinter Cell: Conviction were my all time favourite stealth games, where the stealth mechanics is perfected. Even Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag's stealth was pretty good! But in Watch Dogs, it's just so badly implemented, you get ruthlessly and quickly detected in some missions, it's unforgiving. Honestly, I don't mind much about story if gameplay was fantastic. Unfortunately, even the storyline in Watch Dogs was platonic. I never really felt like I cared for Aiden or any of the other characters. So in the end Watch Dogs had promise, but delivered none of them. I'm saddened that I stopped playing the game after about 5 hours in, simply because I don't enjoy playing the game. It's a real pity, as it had promise.

If there's one game to get in 2015, it's Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate! Having played Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, I welcome this new version, which mercifully removes the horrible underwater battles and replace it with climbing, jumping and mounting monsters!!! I played 100+ hours on MH3U, but after just 10+ hours, boy I can see myself playing even more MH4U due to its much more fun gameplay, seamless online multiplayer gaming, beautiful graphics and of course, the crazy as monsters! I'm glad I took the time to learn MH3U so with MH4U it's a lot easier for me to just pick up and go. There is SO much replay value, and hunting the same monster species feels different each time because of the monster AI, location where it is, etc. The new weapons (my favourite being Insect Glaive, having used Long Sword in the past) are just super fun to use. And of course, I often get hit by the monsters as I get distracted on trying to mount them...! Fun fun fun! If you haven't tried it MH4U is actually much more newbie friendly in that it guides you through most of the stuff so you don't fumble (like in MH3U). Get on the hunt and see you online!

If you know and play Platinum's popular games like Bayonetta 1 & 2, then you know what to expect with Wonderful 101, also by Platinum: it will be frantic, it will have crazy big-ass bosses, it will rate you with pure platinum, platinum, gold, silver, bronze or er... consolation medal (means you **** at that particular segment of the game - which I did for quite a few parts of the game). However, it's different from Bayonetta though. The premise of Wonderful 101 is all about rather quick drawing reflexes. The whole game is based on having a group of tiny heroes that "form" (called unite morph!) the weapon you use against the alien invaders. And to "form" the weapon, you have to draw it out e.g. for a sword, it's a straight line up then press A; for claws, it's a reverse Z then press A; etc. So mostly the learning curve really revolves around drawing the weapon. (here's a hint: use the right thumb pad, I found it more responsive than drawing on the touchpad). My first 2-3 missions was a chore as I struggled to find my balance in how to draw the darned shapes. So I really hated it at first. But once I got the hang of it, I started enjoying it more as the game became much smoother and I became more proficient at getting at enemies. In fact, I found Wonderful 101 much easier to pickup than the 3DS' Kid Icarus Uprising which I gave up on as I hated its controls - I would say Wonderful 101's gameplay is saved by the responsiveness of the right thumb pad. Like Bayonetta, what kept me going at the game is that there is generally some freshness in every mission, and the bosses are really fun to deal with. Plus the game's storyline can offer a chuckle or two. Generally the game doesn't take itself too seriously so it has a lot of slapstick comedy, which is actually quite funny. Even bosses add to the comedy. However, there are some things that irk me in the game. Firstly, the camera angle. Sometimes it's hard to tell which way you're supposed to go because it's very limited in it's panning. It gets worse when you're inside a building and you have to use the game pad to move around - it's a pain. Sometimes it's because of the horrible camera angle means I fall to my death because I can't see where I'm going. Secondly, quick time events. Those frantic button presses at some points in the game is stupid and gives me repetitive strain injury. I think it could've done without it. Thirdly, sometimes the wrong unite morphs get registered and you end up using the wrong weapon and you have to frantically redraw. Fortunately, Platinum was smart enough stop time when you draw, so you don't get hammered. Fourthly, there are some cheap deaths. Sometimes, it's because I'm landed in a totally foreign situation where there is no hint on what I'm supposed to do and some moving contraption just killed me off. Overall, I felt the game overall was actually quite difficult. I played it on Very Easy and even then I died quite a few times. But the storyline and the variations in gameplay did keep me going to the end. I think this game could be much much better if they sorted out the camera angles and ease the controls a little. If you're looking for a perfect Platinum game, play Bayonetta 2. The Wonderful 101 feels more like a prelude to the greatness contained in Bayonetta 2. What Platinum didn't get right in Wonderful 101, they perfected in Bayonetta 2.

This is a truly fun game. You feel bad ass all the way with the powers you get. I have played for hours without getting bored at all. I didn't experience any issues on my PC. The feeling of freedom as you hover over towering blocks and choose different powers to use makes this game one of the more enjoyable games I've played lately. I personally believe Prototype 2 is more refined than Prototype 1. I didn't enjoy 1 as much as I did 2. Recommended.

This has got to be one of the BEST games I’ve played across ANY platform (I’ve got the Xbox 360, Wii, PC, DS and of course the 3DS)! To know for sure if you like this game, here’s a checklist: 1) Do you like a good story and funny dialogue? Check! 2) Do you like a good RPG? Check! 3) Do you like a good turn-based game? Check! 4) Do you like good originality? Check! 5) Do you like good in-game animation? Check! 6) Do you like to produce good kids? Check! 7) All of the above? Check! Fire Emblem: Awakening covers so much ground it’s no surprise that the appeal is so wide. At its heart, it is a grid-based turn-based strategy game based on some pretty memorable characters with their own strengths and weaknesses depending on their classes such as Swordmaster, Sorcerer, Sage, Dark Mage, Dark Flier, Warrior, Berserker, Archer, Lord and so on. You pick up more characters (all playable!) as the story progresses to join your party. In each mission, you pick a mix of characters to do the mission. Each mission progresses the story but there are other Side Stories and Paralogues – more on that later. The turn-based strategy has a twist – you can PAIR these characters on the maps. Each time you pair them, they can SUPPORT each other in unique ways (such as increasing your main attacker’s attack, defense, avoidance etc., and even come to the defense of the unit!) But we do ourselves an injustice to just call it a “turn-based strategy game” – it’s much much more. That’s where we come to… child-bearing. Yes, child-bearing. You can pair various characters at every turn, and the more times you pair them, the stronger their relationship becomes. Then in the dialogue part of the game, over time, you get the pairs to talk to each other up to a point where they get married. Once they get married, at some point in the game “Paralogues” open up. These are side-missions specifically related to the kids from these marriages. These kids inherit some of their parents’ (depending who you end up pairing into marriages) skills and stats. And here’s the clincher – you can then enlist any of the kids into your party too and play them as characters!!! And here’s the part for RPG lovers. As you move on, you can use a Master Seal or Second Seal to change classes or promote within a class for ANY character in your party. And when you change classes, they get to keep the perks they’ve earned. For example, I turn one of my characters Anna into an Assassin to get the “Lethality” perk (chance of one-hit-KO), then changed her class into a Dark Knight to get the “Lifetaker” perk (recover HP by 50% after she defeats an enemy). So as you level up and change classes over time, your characters get stronger and stronger. There is an element of grinding at times – and which RPG game doesn’t have that? But grinding doesn’t feel so bad when the battle animation is SOOOOOOOO good. While I got a bit bored of Pokemon X and Y battle animations after awhile, I have NEVER tired of watching hours of Fire Emblem: Awakening battle animations – it feels so alive and organic that it impresses me even if I’ve seen some of the same moves a 100 times. Especially when there’s those “chance of activating” perks like “Lethality” which is peppered in the usual combat animations. Want the lazy way out (like I did) of too much grinding? Welcome to the DLCs. While paid DLCs are NOT required for game completion, I highly recommend them. They are of top-notch quality and each of them actually grants you something valuable so it’s actually worth buying. For example one of them grants you a new class, the Dread Fighter. Another DLC grants you a new character. My favourite is the “EXPonential Growth” DLC mission, which eases the pain of levelling up by quite a fair bit. You can buy them in sets of three which is a few dollars cheaper. There’s just SO much replayability that’s added with these DLCs. I’ve probably used “EXPonential Growth” about 100+ times. The animated cutscenes, although it doesn’t no appear often, are really good. That said, the dialogues in the story are so funny. The story and relationships between characters are really engaging, and at times, real hilarious and worth reading through. Now I personally hate overly difficult games. This game allows you to tune the difficulty. For example, I play on a casual mode where if the characters get KO’d, they return in the next mission. If you’re in for a challenge, you can go for the “Permadeath” mode where once a character is lost in a mission, he or she is lost forever. Pretty tough especially if you honed and levelled up that character and grown to love it. If I haven’t already got a 3DS, Fire Emblem: Awakening would’ve done it for me. No game is perfect, but this comes pretty darn close!

Nuts. Pure Japanese nuts. In a VERY good way! Project X Zone simply showcases how crazily imaginative Japanese game designers can be. Simply put, this is a fighting game. Yes you walk around a chess-board grid like, but as soon as you meet an enemy, it turns into a fighting game. It’s a bit like Street Fighter 2 Plus Plus on steroids and features characters from not one, not two but get this, THREE of Japan’s larger gaming companies, namely Capcom, Namco Bandai, and Sega. Can you imagine all these characters from famous franchises all coming together in a crazy brawl, Japanese style? Street Fighter’s Ken & Ryu fighting alongside Resident Evil’s Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, Virtua Fighter’s Pai & Akira, Dead Rising’s Frank West, Tekken’s Jin & Ling Xiaoyu Expect a frantic, chaotic, funny over-the-top fighting game. In some scenes there are up to 5 characters beating up a single enemy onscreen (but don’t feel sorry for the enemy, some of these enemies have about 10 times your HP anyway!). Couple that with crazy kung-fu swordfights gunfights and pyrotechnics coming out of the hand machine guns missile launchers exploding armours etc, and you’ve got the gist of the game. There are some real funny action sequences like a character breaking out in a catsuit to scratch the enemy, or a character whose armour explodes resulting with the character in his boxer shorts! These crazy as Japanese stuff made me chuckle a couple of times. While one could easily mistake this as a simple, dumb button-mashing fighting game, one can’t be further from the truth. While you can theoretically button-mash (your battles won’t be as effective though), there’s actually quite a bit of strategy you can employ involved in the game. Here are just some examples: 1) Critical hits are gained from a very precise timing of your button-press just before the enemy lands on the ground, if you hit “A” just at the right second, you land critical hits, resulting in more damage caused. 2) Like RPGs, you acquire new skills after every few levels and you actually need to use some of these skills to more easily complete some levels or you can do it the hard way ;) 3) Different characters have different traits e.g. you should use characters with longer move range if it’s a level where you have a time limit to reach a destination within a certain time period 4) Your fighters always fight in pairs against the enemy. However, you can add a 3rd fighter to your arsenal to add that extra bit of damage. 5) There’s items you can assign to each team to boost certain characteristics. I found this game really addictive so even though each level could take up to an hour to complete depending on how many monsters there are on the battlefield, I still enjoyed every moment of it. Fortunately, you can Quick Save in any level so you don’t lose your progress should you need to stop. I’ve spent countless hours playing this game, due to its fun factor. If you haven’t given it a go, really you should! I LOVE this game!

As an adult, this is THE best 3DS game I've played (even after Super Mario Land 3D, Mario Kart 7, etc.!) for all the following reasons: 1) Multiple characters to pick from with various weapons and powers 2) Large number of campaigns - I've played countless hours, and am still playing 3) There's some strategy involved in picking right characters and weapons for missions, but not to the point that it's painful and onerous 4) Controls are fantastic and easy to follow 5) Each mission is can be saved at any point in time so you can save before taking certain risks Although I didn't pay the full retail price for it, I would happily have done so without a thought. BUY IT if you haven't yet!

I'm not too unhappy about the linearity of the game. I'm not even unhappy about the repeate-and-rinse hack and slash. I'm REALLY unhappy about the cheap deaths. Some of the bosses are really cheap in that you only have 1 way to run, and that's what makes this a failure. If all bosses gave you much more room to move and out-think it a little, then I would've given this a 5 or 6. As it stands, it's just a game that's not worth the full price. Just rent it.

This is one of the most fun and easy to pickup whup-ass beat-em-up games for the Wii! While it has an element of "history" to it, the history doesn't get in the way of the crazy, whup ass, beat-up combos of damage you can do to hoards and hoards of enemies. While I played with it, I keep having this exciting feeling of "bring 'em on"! It's one of those games that make you feel like a real bad-ass. The key thing is simplicity that works with both an adult like me and my eldest son! The game play is all about doing much damage with as crazy combos - the excitement of achieving Super Basara Frenzy combos of up to 6000 hits without a break is just plain nuts. And super fun and exciting. I have only played 22% of my first character, Ieyasu. I am now just playing Saica to try a different style, and boy it's fun. Even though the map is similar with the different character, the gameplay and whup-ass combos are totally different, and feels fresh. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - don't listen to negative critics. You don't know what you're missing if you don't get this game. GET IT NOW, no regrets! I'll have hours and hours of fun!